Some Trump Delegates Are Bringing Guns To RNC To Protect Against ISIS

With Cleveland’s GOP Convention just around the corner, Trump delegates in Pennsylvania are preparing by getting their guns ready.

Pennsylvanian Trump delegates plan to bring guns with them to Cleveland, but are faced with the logistical problem that no guns are actually allowed in the convention.

In Ohio, it’s legal to carry a gun, but the convention venue bans firearms.

Several Pennsylvanian pro-Trump delegates spoke with Mother Jones about this conundrum, which offers little resolve.

They explained that even if they can’t take guns into the arena, firearms will be necessary at the party’s events and receptions.

Marc Scaringi, based in the Harrisburg area, says that the violence that broke out at Trump’s San Jose, California, rally needs to be taken into consideration.

He hasn’t decided whether or not to bring his gun though: "If you can't have the firearm in the convention, then you really can't take it, because what do you do with it?" He notes that there probably won’t be “any firearms locker room,” which is a definite deterrent for him and others.

Ash Khare, another of Trump’s delegates from northwest Pennsylvania, applied for a concealed carry permit especially for the convention. He also plans to receive training from the local sheriff’s office before taking it to Cleveland, in an attempt to show that he plans on being responsible when armed.

"I think this is going to be the most riotous political convention since 1968, and maybe even more so," Scaringi said. "In addition to just your average political protester, you're going to get serious people here who want to do harm and want to create mayhem."

Delegate James Klein’s reason for carrying a gun in Cleveland was a little more direct, as he fears an ISIS attack: "I'm not a terrorist, okay, but I'm an academic and a theorist, and I would think that if I were an ISIS guy that I might want to attack the Republican National Convention.”

These Pennsylvania delegates aren’t the only ones who think guns should be allowed in the Quicken Loans Arena, of course. A Change.org petition to allow the open carry of guns at the venue has almost 56,000 signatures.

The Republican Party, however, is against letting guns into the arena.